Photo Bias Alert: Palestinian Kids Back Behind Bars

The Independent uses the following photo to illustrate a particularly critical story on the Israeli treatment of Palestinian child detainees:

What could be more illustrative and symbolic of the story than a photo of Palestinian children behind bars?

This time, however, The Independent has been well and truly busted. For the photo above is the classic example that featured in our Shattered Lens study on photo bias, in this case the use of bars to portray Palestinians as “prisoners” of Israeli occupation and brutality.

The photo first appeared just over two years ago in The Independent on June 21, 2010 accompanying a different story relating to Israel’s blockade of Gaza. Here is the original photo and caption courtesy of AFP / Getty:

Not only has The Independent been caught recycling an old file photo from two years ago but it has also confirmed the findings of Shattered Lens. This photo is not illustrative of the accompanying story at all and its symbolism derives from the ability of the photographer to use clever techniques to present a false impression that enhances images of Palestinian “suffering”.

Our study examined a sequence of photos that accompanied the one above and documented how a photographer was able to manipulate a Hamas-organized photo opportunity in Gaza.

Read the full chapter in Shattered Lens to see how Palestinian children were positioned behind a gate to give the impression of a prison and how using a great deal of skill to get the right position with the right lens from the right angle, the photographer manages to create an impression of many more than the several children in the actual shot.

POOR HUMANITY WHEN CHILDREN ARE TAUGHT TO SCREAM AT SOLDIERS HOPING THAT ONE OF THEM LOOSES ITS PATIENCE, AND STARTS SOMETHING THEY CAN PHOTOGRAPH AND SHOW THE WORLD SOMETHING THAT IT IS NOT TRUE BUT SINCE THEY ARE BLIND WITH RAGE THEY BELIEVE ANYTHING AND WILL START A RIOT. POOR HUMAN RACE IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING? WE WILL NEVER FINISH WITH SUCH HATE I AM DEVASTATED AS I LOST MY AUNT HER HUSBAND AND TWO BOYS TO THE HITLER REGIME AND THOUGHT THAT NOW THE WORLD WOULD UNDERSTAND THE HORROR OF KILLING SIX MILLION JEWS AND MORE THAN TWENTY MORE MILLION OF HUMAN BEINGS. BUT IAM WRONG THE WORLD WILL NEVER LEAVE ISRAEL ALONE THEY ARE BEING BOMBARDED EVERY DAY AND I NEVER READ IN ANY NEWSPAPER

What is being suggested is that a STAGED photo SHOULD NOT be used to prop up a story about Israel. There is enough anger out there already with having to resort to dubious reporting ethics to further enrage the situation.

Staged photos like this actually only make it harder for peace to be achieved.

I’m a big supporter of Honest Reporting but, really, once in a while it may be better to just sit down and have a cup of tea rather than spout off.
“Recycled an old file photo that is factually unrelated to the story”? – Er, that’s what file photos are for! Are you suggesting that a brand new, unused photo be used for every single story published and that, once used, it be burned?
And “factually unrelated”? So any photo that’s used must be of the actual people or events mentioned in the story it illustrates? That’s a strictly literal approach that flies in the face of how any form of communication works.
Yes, expose bias and how the media works but don’t hysterically over extend yourself.